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F5 BIG-IP Virtual Edition pros and cons

Vendor: F5

4.4 out of 5

10 reviews
100% willing to recommend

Pros & Cons summary

F5 BIG-IP Virtual Edition is a cost-effective alternative to physical devices, praised for enhancing security with DoS layer 7 protection and easy integration. It offers advanced web application firewall protection and SSL offloading but has limitations with code, RAM, and NICs. Despite high resource demands and expensive annual licensing, it saves time and complements existing systems. While on-the-go upgrades require improvement, its benefits make it a competitive choice for tech buyers.

Buyer's Guide

Get pricing advice, tips, use cases and valuable features from real users of this product.

Prominent pros & cons

PROS

F5 BIG-IP Virtual Edition is cost-effective compared to physical devices.

DoS layer 7 protection offers a unique security feature not available with many other vendors.

F5 BIG-IP Virtual Edition's integration capabilities are straightforward and non-complex.

Advanced web application firewall protection and SSL offloading enhance application security and compliance.

F5 BIG-IP Virtual Edition is praised for saving time, improving security posture, and complementing existing appliances.

CONS

F5 BIG-IP Virtual Edition has limitations regarding code and RAM.

There's a specific issue with the network interface connector, limited to a maximum of two NICs in a virtualized environment.

F5 BIG-IP Virtual Edition is a heavy system requiring significant CPU, memory, and hard disk resources.

On-the-go upgrades are needed, and this is an area where improvements are required.

F5 BIG-IP Virtual Edition is considered expensive and could have a more favorable pricing model, as it is high compared to others with annual-based licensing.

F5 BIG-IP Virtual Edition Pros review quotes

Md. Al Imran Chowdhury

Cyber Security Analyst at Link3 Technologies

Oct 12, 2023

The tool's investment is less than a physical device.

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L3 Project Engineer at Inspira Enterprise

Feb 15, 2024

I have a specific issue with the network interface connector, the NIC. We're limited to a maximum of two NICs in a virtualized environment. It's a limitation of the tool.

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Nikolay Dimitrov

Cyber Security Engineer at Paysafe / IBM

Feb 20, 2024

It has DoS layer 7 protection, which not many vendors have.

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F5 BIG-IP Virtual Edition

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Learn what your peers think about F5 BIG-IP Virtual Edition. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: January 2026.

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Founder at Torres & Torres Tech

Mar 5, 2024

The features that I like include LTM and Global Traffic Manager (GTM).

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Kodanda Ramji C.S

Manager | Engineering | Cloud Managed Services at Sify Technologies

Apr 15, 2024

The integration capabilities of the product are easy to use, and there is no complexity involved in it.

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IT Specialist at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees

Jan 14, 2025

It's easy to use, and they have good support.

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IT consultant at Beginning Solutions IT

Jan 16, 2026

I would highly recommend F5 BIG-IP Virtual Edition to everyone because we have had a phenomenal experience using this device.

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Network Security Engineer at a tech vendor with 11-50 employees

Jan 16, 2026

F5 BIG-IP Virtual Edition has positively impacted my organization in all three aspects: saving time, improving security posture, and complementing our appliances on our F5 BIG-IP Virtual Edition.

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AM

Abdul Rehman Manzoor

Senior Network And Security Engineer at Mobily

Jan 19, 2026

I truly appreciate the power of F5 BIG-IP Virtual Edition compared to any other vendor we have used, and we have seen more use cases coming in, proving it to be better than other products.

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F5 BIG-IP Virtual Edition Cons review quotes

Md. Al Imran Chowdhury

Cyber Security Analyst at Link3 Technologies

Oct 12, 2023

The tool has limitations with respect to code and RAM.

Read full review

L3 Project Engineer at Inspira Enterprise

Feb 15, 2024

I have a specific issue with the network interface connector, the NIC. We're limited to a maximum of two NICs in a virtualized environment. It's a limitation of the tool.

Read full review

Nikolay Dimitrov

Cyber Security Engineer at Paysafe / IBM

Feb 20, 2024

F5 BIG-IP Virtual Edition is a heavy system that needs a lot of CPU, memory, and hard disk.

Read full review

F5 BIG-IP Virtual Edition

Free Report: F5 BIG-IP Virtual Edition Reviews and More

Learn what your peers think about F5 BIG-IP Virtual Edition. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: January 2026.

881,082 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Founder at Torres & Torres Tech

Mar 5, 2024

BIG-IP could improve in supporting microservices, for example, in Docker and Kubernetes environments.

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Kodanda Ramji C.S

Manager | Engineering | Cloud Managed Services at Sify Technologies

Apr 15, 2024

On-the-go upgrades are an option that the tool currently lacks, making it an area where improvements are required.

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IT Specialist at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees

Jan 14, 2025

It's expensive and could be cheaper.

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IT consultant at Beginning Solutions IT

Jan 16, 2026

I believe F5 BIG-IP Virtual Edition could be improved in the area of pricing. It is a somewhat expensive solution, and the price needs to be improved based on what our customers have told us.

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Network Security Engineer at a tech vendor with 11-50 employees

Jan 16, 2026

From a pricing perspective, F5 BIG-IP Virtual Edition is somewhat high compared to others, and the licensing is provided as annual-based licenses rather than perpetual licenses.

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AM

Abdul Rehman Manzoor

Senior Network And Security Engineer at Mobily

Jan 19, 2026

F5 BIG-IP Virtual Edition could be improved by enhancing the GUI, as I think it should be more user-friendly.

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